Indexed ledger or other book.



S. B. KIRTLEY.

INDEXED LBDGER OR OTHER BOOK.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 23, 1909.

1,090,544. Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

2a 50 a2 54 as 55 4o 42 44 46; Q

Ba Ba Ba'rn Ba Bau .B Bee .Beh Ben Berta Ba Bal BM Bus Ba B Bee Be Be Ber 2.

Bai .Ba'n Ba'r Bat B B .Bcc Bel Be'rg Be 30K B07 B01: Bau B Bee. 3 Ben Be-r Be,

Single Line Acc'ts. J

[Ba Ba Ba'rn Ba Ban. B Bee Beh Ben Bevn BaK Bar Bwrt Bau B Bea. Be Ben Be'r Be SIMEON B. KIRTLEY,OF COLUMBIA, MISSOURI.

INDEXED LEDGER OR OTHER BOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

Application filed November 23, 1909. Serial No. 529,589.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, SIMnoN B. KIRTLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Go lumhia, in the county of Boone and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Indexed Ledgers or other Books, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ledgers or similar books provided with indexes, and has for its object particularly to improve books of this kind in which the sheets or leaves are permanently bound together.

In the accompanying drawingsFigure 1 is a perspective view of a ledger embodying the improvements herein to be claimed. Fig. 2 is a detail face view showing the indexing features for the sections containing names or words beginning with Ba to Be. Fig.3 is a face view showing one ledger sheet of the section covered by the index illustrated in F ig. 2. Fig. 4 illustrates the method adopted for making provision for extra long accounts.

In my Patent No. 711,249, dated October 14:, 1902, I have described and claimed a self-indexing ledger; and some of the features therein described and claimed are adopted and used in the ledger constituting the subject of this case. The ledger shown in the said patent was divided alphabetically, a proper number of pages being assigned to each letter, and the upper ends of the pages were cut away to leave exposed portions of the successive sheets in a stepped series. Upon those exposed portions of the leaves were printed or attached the index characters. This arrangement, whlle possessing many features of advantage, necessitates the cutting away of a considerable part of each sheet, and this, in a ledger, means that some space that might otherwise be devoted to receiving the accounts cannot be utilized for that purpose.

It is one 'ofthe objects of this invention, while-retaining allthe advantages of my former invention, to utilize a great proportion of the pages. of the ledger for use. To this endI placethe index, which in its es sential features corresponds with that described and illustrated in my said patent, upon a sheet separate from the sheet-s that are cut away. i

Preferably the index, which is designated as a whole bythe character 2, is printed able.

upon the division sheet 3 to which the tab 6 may be applied. The upper portion of this sheet, 3, is cut away so as to leave exposed the cut away portions of the sheets of the sections to which the index is related, and such index appears upon the sheet near its upper edge. The lower part of the sheet 3 may well be utilized to receive single line accounts of which in all lines of business there are a few.

The ledger sheets 4 are preferably consecutlvely numbered and the numbers of racing pages appear upon the exposed cut away parts of the sheets, as indicated in Fig. 2. It is not essential that the sheets should be consecutively numbered or that the numbers should appear as described, but this arrangement is both convenient and desirable. The indexing abbreviations or characters are preferably arranged in Vertical rows which are disposed below or in alinement with the exposed parts of the ledger sheets 4. The characters of each row are preferably divided into two sets designated respectively by the numbers of the pages on which the accounts indexed by thosecharacters are to be written. Referring to the index shown in Fig.

2, it will be seen that the account of any person whose surname begins with the letters Barn should be written on page 32, under which number the abbreviation Barn stands; while the account ofany one whose name begins with the letters Bart appears on page 33, under which number this abbreviation stands. If another account beginning with the letters Barn is to be opened, it can be assigned either to page 32 or 33, as circumstances may indicate desir- I-Iaving selected one or the other of these pages the letter n is added to the abbreviation Bar which stands below the number, 32 or 33, of the page to which that account has been assigned.

The method of using the index need not further be described as it will be readily understood by thosefamiliar with the use of theledger shown in my aforesaid patent. An ordinary unindexed bound ledger can be easily converted into an indexed ledger embodying my invention in a simple manner as follows: The leaves are divided up into sections and the tops cut as may be desired, and as indicated in the drawings of this case. The topmost sheet of a section has then applied to it an index which is stuck thereto,

the indexes being printed complete and made in the form of gummed stickers for use as just described.

To facilitate successive posting in a ledger embodying this invention, the pages 4 of the ledger may be printed as shown in Fig. 3, that is to say, upon each sheet of a section in immediate proximity to the cut upper edge of the sheet, and in alinement with the exposed portions of the leaves, are abbreviations, preferably two rows of them, formed of the first and last abbreviations of the corresponding rows of the index 2. This arrangement, which is indicated 5, will assistthe bookkeeper in consecutive posting, and in a large measure relieve him of the necessity of turning back to the index 2, which however is always conveniently at hand to be referred to if the supplemental indexes 5 do not answer the desired purpose.

It is the custom of many concerns in or dering ledgers made for their special use, to indicate that they have a certain number of especially long accounts, and to designate where such accounts are to be'situated alphabetically, in the ledger as a whole. The manufacturer then makes provision by the insertion of extra leaves for these long accounts at the places designated. I have illustrated in Fig. 4 an arrangement for a long account which, it will be supposed, is illdexed under the abbreviation Bee and is assigned to page 41. By reference to Fig. 4 it will be seen. that between pages 40 and 41 there are inserted four leaves designated 41*, 41 41 and 41 all of which are devoted to the account of J. H. Bee This account isopened to in the first instance the same as any other, by reference to the index 2. Page 41 is first filled, then the next page back, designated 41 and so on successively. A check mark on the exposed face of any of the leaves of the 41 series may indicate that that page has been filled and the one next to the left is being used. It will be seen that the leaves, 41*, 41 and so on, have their ends cut away and are arranged with exposed portions in series, and that the extent to which they are cut away is greater than the extent to which the leaves between which they are situated are cut-that is, the leaves bearing the pages numbered 40 and 41. Where the account provided for by the inserted leaves is very long the cut leaves may be in pairs or sets of larger number, as may be found necessary.

While my invention is particularly adapted to be used in connection with books, the leaves of which are permanently bound together, it is evident that it is not restricted, in its useful applications, to books of this kind, and therefore when I herein employ the term book I do so in its broad signification, and desire that it should be understood Copies of this patent may be obtained for as applying not only to bound books, but books formed of sheets or leaves grouped together and consecutively arranged and held in the desired arrangement by either perma nent or temporary binding or other holding means. I

What I claim is 1. A book including a group of leaves numberedjand arranged in sets and cut away 7 the index being sub-divided, and the characters thereof being arranged in rows which are respectively separated into sets, each set of characters being designated by. the num ber of the page of the book to which the subjects indexed by such characters are assigned.

2. A book including a group of leaves arranged in sets which are cut away along one edge to leave exposed portions in'stepped series and having on said exposed portions page-indicating characters, a separate index for each set of leaves appearing upon the uppermost leaf of the set and alphabetically sub-divided, the index being reproduced upon each of the sheets of the set to which it relates to facilitate consecutive posting.

3. A book including a group of leaves arexposed portions page-indicating characters, a separate index for each set of leaves ap-v pearing upon the uppermost leaf of the set, and extra leaves for long accounts arranged next to the page to which the account is first assigned and which page is referred to in the index, the supplemental leaves being cut away to leave portions thereof exposed in a stepped series, the cuts of thesaid supplemental leaves extending back to a greater extent than the cuts of either of the leaves between which they are placed. 7

4. A book including a group of leaves arranged in sets, the leaves of a set being cut away along one edge'so as .to leave portions thereof exposed in a stepped series, and havcharacters, and a separate index for each set of leaves, the index being subdivided and mg on the exposed portions page-indicating the characters thereof being arranged in a series and respectively separated into sets, each set of characters of the index being designated by the page-indicating-character of the book to which the subjects indexed by J. S. BARKER, N. CURTIS LAMMOND.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! la tentl, Washington. D. G. l i 

